Making a break for it!

9th September 2017

We’ve been trapped in Nykøbing for 3 days by the bad weather and finally we have a clear patch of two may be three days before we have another 5 days of gales and 50 knot winds. That’s sailing for you, either no wind or too much, it’s the Goldilocks syndrome and never just right.

In the marina we are meeting people who are now making their last dash for home in Germany and Holland. There are no other English yachts here, we have not seen any for weeks. We have certainly gone further than most other people, so it must be time to head west again.

At 0900 we leave Nykøbing in an airless drizzle, visibility is around 5 nm and we are soon feeling a bit cold and damp as we follow the 8 nm channel out to the Guldborg bridge. Feeling a bit grim and determined not to hang about for the bridge to open. I do not stop or slow down, Grace is motoring towards the bridge at 4.5 knots and an easy 1000 revs. It is going to be who blinks first, the bridge keeper or me! It is him! With just 200m to go we get the red lights and the bridge opens and we are through into the Smålandsfarvandet.

Leaving Guldborg bridge behind us!

Our original destination was going to be Vejro, a small private island with nice moorings however we are at the turn point for the island’s harbour by 1300 and we have made such good progress that we decide to press on to Omo. So changing on a bearing of 300 for 14 nm we reach the safe water mark at the head of the Omo Sund. The wind has dropped and the rain set in! Round here they say that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing…..I am not so sure, we are both in our Mustos and Hifits and we are soaking wet but are committed to doing the next 3 or 4 hours!

Passing the North Cardinal off Femo and pretending to enjoy the rain

Once in the Sund we change onto a bearing of 150 to the second green buoy. Reassuringly a ferry appears from nowhere and heads straight towards us….so we must be on the right track! The final approach to the island is nice and easy, even in bad weather providing you do not turn for the harbour until the bearing on the ferry dock reaches at least 240 to make sure you avoid the surrounding reef.

In the Sund and enjoying the weather!

Omo is on the edge of the Great Belt which means we can go either north to Nyborg or south to Svendborg depending upon the wind direction, giving us an extra day in hand to beat the gale. It has been a long 32 nm hop.

Omo is a relief, we moor up in an almost empty marina and the prospect of a hot shower is glorious! The only other boat there is a very large German yacht moored alongside the main quay. It was called the Prussian Eagle. A bit of an insensitive name for this part of Denmark remembering 1864 and German / Danish history!

Grace, almost alone in Omo!

It’s definitely been a wet sail! Every pair of gloves has been used!

As we are secure, we go to take the lines of a singlehanded sailor who has just arrived near us. We are watching from the pontoon as it all starts to go wrong for him. How well we know that feeling! When Anne got to him he was hugging the mooring post saying he was just glad to be in and out of the rain and was not going to let go! He clearly had a tough trip up from Svendborg! Box moorings are not easy on your own and he was being blown side on to the mooring stern posts and was stuck. After much coaxing he was persuaded to let go of the post and throw us a line so we could haul him in like a big wet fish! Unfortunately in his hurry to he forgot to secure his end to the boat and he drifted away again! Eventually after some more toing and froing we got him in. He was clearly happy to be on dry land and then followed us round like a lost sheep asking how it all worked!

The sun setting over the the Great Belt bridge. Looking forward to better weather tomorrow!